A major new white paper from a leading risk-management organization vigorously rebuts reform advocates who are pushing for tighter restrictions on police use of force than the standard required by the US Supreme Court.

The 22-page paper, issued by the California-based group Lexipol, warns that some key arguments in favor of stricter force policies are, in fact, “myths” that can entangle officers and their agencies in unnecessary legal problems and safety risks .

Human beings, regardless of training and experience, are not robots. They have unique physical attributes, states of health and life experiences that shape the context in which they perceive their world.

And police officers are human beings. A job title, training or experience does not mean an officer’s brain will process information any different than that of a civilian. And yet, too often the expectations the public—and even law enforcement agencies—places on police officers fail to account for the limitations of sensory input and processing.

High Court Denies Police Liability in Use-of-Force Case

ByTed Gest | in The Crime Report Your Criminal Justice Network

The U.S. Supreme Court today unanimously struck down a “provocation rule” of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which said that police officers may be held liable when they seize someone using reasonable force after committing a separate Fourth Amendment violation that contributed to the need to use force.

Facing a medical emergency and a use-of-force dilemma, did this sheriff’s deputy do the right thing?

The deputy, working road patrol for the Oakland County (MI) SO, responded one June afternoon to a call at a residence near Detroit where four paramedics were struggling to help a man overcome a life-threatening diabetic crisis.

According to later documents in the case, a finger prick had established that his blood-sugar level was “extremely low at 38,” the normal range being 60-110. Left untreated, the “medical emergency” could “lead to prolonged seizure and death.”

Until now, Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback's statement offered the only public accounting from the officers' perspectives

Apr 25, 2017 By Leila Atassi / Advance Ohio Media

CLEVELAND — Two and a half years after 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed by a Cleveland police officer, cleveland.com has obtained the videos - never before seen publicly -- of investigative interviews with the officers involved, Timothy Loehmann and Frank Garmback.

Any officer who may find themselves involved in the use of deadly force should know what will happen during the investigation. All Investigators, on-scene supervisors, officers in-charge, police administrators & state attorneys should know the best practices identified by experienced investigators.

A resource and information page from the International Association Chief's of Police website. This information will be useful if your are developing your Organizational Accountability:Managing Use of Force policy.Protecting Civil Rights: A Leadership Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Law EnforcementProtecting Civil Rights:A Leadership Guide for State, Local, and Tribal Law EnforcementPrepared by the International Association of Chiefs of PoliceSeptember 2006Download PublicationPart 1: Executive Summary, Acknowledgements, Table of Contents, Chapters 1 to 2 Part 2: Chapters 2 to 5 Part 3: Chapters 6 to 8, Appendices Order Printed Copy from COPs: Publication Request Form (PDF Fax Form)The effectiveness of the police depends on the trust and confidence of the community. If civil rights of individuals or groups within a community are compromised, public trust and confidence in the police are diminished. Without trust, police become less legitimate in the eyes of the public. Compromised relations with the community result in strained relations and in less effective law enforcement. With funding from and collaboration with the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS), a component of the US Department of Justice, IACP produced this guide as a comprehensive overview of the civil rights issues and challenges that face today's law enforcement leaders. The guide describes the processes by which agencies with alleged "pattern or practice" civil rights violations are investig

The new Use of Force Training video produced by the Illinois Law Enforcement Training & Standards board has been released and can be found on the "LEDI" system. Since not everyone has or can have a LEDI account, a link to thevideohas been added under the members side of the MTU1 website. All officers are required to view this thirty-six minute Use of Force Training video as part of their annual qualifications All officers should still be provided the Use of Force Brochure The agency will maintain a record of those officers viewing the videoTo locate the video, go to the members tab on the MTU1 website to locate the "Annual Qualification Use of Force Training video" page. All users must have a username /password in order to access the page.

September 2016 issue of The Informer. This monthly publication will keep you informed of the very latest developments in case law, statute and rules changes, and provide news and articles of interest and practical import for law enforcement officers and agents.9informer16 (.pdf)In the September 2016 Informer:Case Summaries:Circuit Courts of Appeals:4th Amendment (Search / Seizure / Arrest) 1st Cir. (Young): Whether officers violated the Fourth Amendment when they entered Coleman's apartment to arrest the defendant on an outstanding warrant. 2nd Cir. (Caraballo): Whether exigent circumstances justified the pinging of the defendant's cell phone to determine his location. 2nd Cir. (Cunningham): Whether officers established reasonable suspicion to support the warrantless frisk of the defendant's car for weapons. 6th Cir. (Doxey): Whether warrantless search of a parolee was supported by reasonable suspicion, and the reasonableness of the search. 7th Cir. (Caira): Whether the defendant had a reasonable expectation of privacy in his IP address when he logged on to his computer and accessed his Hotmail account. 8th Cir. (Zamora): Whether officers exceeded the scope of a consent search, and whether officers were justified in drilling into the defendant's car to reach a hidden compartment. 8th Cir. (Faler): Whether officers received implied consent to enter an apartment which eventually led to the defendant's arrest and the seizure of evidence from his backpack. 8th Cir. (Fields): Whet

Page four of this brief states thefact critics are ignoring: Regardless of how many deaths occur annually from police use of force, the true measure of concern should be how often the police are unjustified in their use of deadly force. If the police are properly using their legal authority to use lethal force, then they cannot control how many deaths occur as that is dependent on the number of people causing or threatening imminent serious bodily injury (i.e., broken bone, punctured flesh, etc.) to an officer or third party. In order to determine if the police are killing "too many" people each year, we need to take into consideration the number of people who are violently assaulting police officers. Over the last three years there has been growing concern in the public discourse about the use of force, especially lethal force, by the police in the United States. This concern spawned the creation of the Black Lives Matter organization and motivated President Obama to organize a commission on policing in the 21st century. Concerns over several highly publicized and politicized deaths of African-American men by police use of force have produced numerous public protests in almost every city, town, and university in the nation. Most of these protests have been peaceful, but many have not, especially the protest in Dallas on July 7 that resulted in eleven officers being shot, five of them fatally.In the public discussion around the topic of police use of force, many disturbing cl

Published on Aug 22, 2016Are the police racist? Do they disproportionately shoot African-Americans? Are incidents in places like Ferguson and Baltimore evidence of systemic discrimination? Heather Mac Donald, a scholar at the Manhattan Institute, explains.https://youtu.be/UQCQFH5wOJo

The Lewinski Lecture Series (2013)The Lewinski Lecture Series was developed by the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Minnesota State University, Mankato, to recognize the contribution of Dr. Bill Lewinski and Force Science to a revolutionary, increased understanding of the myriad human performance elements that play a critical, often life-changing role in the high stress, rapidly unfolding encounters in which police professionals are often engaged. Dr. Bill Lewinski was invited to present the inaugural lecture in the Series.https://vimeo.com/72659903In upcoming years, others who have made significant contributions in research to the advancement of law enforcement will be invited to present at this annual event.NEW RESEARCH DEVELOPMENTS AT FORCE SCIENCEThe ultimate mission of Force Science is to advance performance and decision making in law enforcement.In the police world the primary information we acquire about conflicts, with rare exception, such as LAPD's use of force study in the 1990's, is statistical, such as the distance between the officer and subject, number of rounds fired, etc. We need to delve much deeper into the dynamics of these encounters if we are to truly understand them.For over two decades, Force Science has been doing just that by conducting research into the human dynamics of high stress police encounters involving the use of force. Initially this work sought to define the nature of the assaults, and officers' responses, movements and reaction